Love triangles are a compelling aspect of any teen drama, and it's no different when it comes to supernatural series. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Vampire Diaries and Twilight all contain a buzzed about love triangle featuring at least one vampire. Looking back at Buffy-Spike-Angel, Elena-Damon-Stefan and Bella-Edward-Jacob, let's find out the best love triangle portrayed on screen.

Steamy Love Triangles

twilight edward jacob bella

One thing that all three supernatural love triangles have in common is steamy romances rife with drama, as seen with Buffy, who was caught between Angel and Spike. For the first three seasons of Buffy, the slayer agonized over her will-they-won’t-they relationship with Angel. After his departure, Buffy was paired up with bad boy vampire Spike, who changed the concept of vampires, as he was regarded as so popular and sexy that the show creator threatened to kill him off. Buffy shared a lot of on-screen chemistry with both vampires, leaving fans torn between who she should be with.

Meanwhile on TVD, Elena was caught between vampire brothers, which raises an early red flag. However, since both of these brothers are exceedingly gorgeous, her situation comes across as enviable rather than the recipe for an awkward family reunion. Elena initially meets and falls deeply in love with Stefan before developing feelings for his older brother Damon. To further complicate matters, Elena happens to be the exact doppelgänger of Katherine, the evil vampire who turned both of the brothers into vampires and has toyed with their hearts for decades.

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Finally, The Twilight Saga starts with Bella becoming reacquainted with Jacob, who is a werewolf engaged in a longstanding feud against vampires. This complicates things when Bella soon falls for vampire Edward. When Bella first meets Edward, he appears disgusted by her, though romance quickly blooms. Edward is attracted to Bella due to her irresistible scent and the fact that he can’t hear her thoughts. While Bella and Jacob's relationship is more organic, it is also less passionate, as it remains clear Jacob is Bella’s second choice. While Bella only has eyes for Edward and Jacob, the other properties feature the characters engaged in other relationships to add more steamy drama.

Problematic Partners

Stefan and Damon standing by stairs in The Vampire Diaries Season 3.

Though many envy supernatural relationships, if one were to examine them under real-life standards, there would be many red flags. Buffy was rife with supernatural drama, with Angel becoming evil after having sex with Buffy for the first time, throwing a wrench in their romance. He even attempted to destroy the world when he returned to his evil ways. He also psychologically tortured Buffy and murdered many people. Meanwhile, the chaotic Spike kidnapped Buffy, had a relationship with the girl who tormented her, created and used a Buffy sexbot and assaulted Buffy, making both vampires dangerous love interests.

While the vampires in Buffy lose their souls and rarely have it returned to them, the vampires on TVD could turn off their humanity themselves. This led to Stefan becoming a ripper, a vampire who enjoys tormenting and abusing their victims. Meanwhile, Damon has vacillated between protecting Elena and threatening to murder her. He also killed Elena’s beloved brother, forced her to drink his blood and attempted to compel her into kissing him. Elena is also at fault, having tormented both brothers, erased Damon’s memories of her, denied her love of him, frequently endangered his life and enabled his bad behavior. Her biggest strike against Stefan was leaving him for his own brother, showing that this trio had a lot of baggage.

As for Twilight, Edward stalked Bella, watched her sleep and devastated her by breaking up with her, ghosting her and then attempting suicide. However, the romance between Edward and Bella was so epic that they married and broke the bed on their honeymoon, even though Bella could have died. While Jacob proved to be a source of comfort and friendship, he was also problematic when it came to how he refused to accept that Bella didn't want him, that was until he found another love interest, which, as will be discussed later, was also disturbing.

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Ultimately, Twilight turned out to be the least problematic love triangle; although, this could be due to the fact that Buffy and TVD had more time to create drama. Additionally, Twilight was aimed for younger audiences, while both Buffy and TVD contained older content, meaning that the love scenes were also steamier.

Happily Ever After

Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Bella and Edward end Twilight as married parents. Their daughter also happens to be the love interest for Jacob, as the werewolf imprints on her. Though his feelings for her aren't romantic until she reaches an appropriate age, the ick factor to this coupling ultimately places the Twilight love triangle at the bottom of the ranking.

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Meanwhile, Damon and Elena had smoldering chemistry in earlier seasons. Fans enjoyed watching Damon pine after Elena, with his love for her humanizing him. Though Elena was written off the series, Damon remains faithful and devoted to her throughout her coma. The two are ultimately happily married with a daughter. Meanwhile, the once steamy romance between Elena and Stefan fully sizzles out, and Stefan marries Caroline, one of Elena’s best friends.

For these reasons, TVD creates a compelling argument for best on-screen vampire love triangle; however, the ultimate winner is Buffy, as TVD has not yet reached the icon status that Buffy has. Some might argue that Spike walked so Edward and Damon could run. Furthermore, Buffy doesn’t end up with either of the men, as she instead concludes the series single. This is a refreshing take on the love triangle trope, surpassing the expectations that a woman needs a man for a happy ending.

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